Machine for glazing tubes, &amp;c.



PATENTED MAY 5, 1903.

J. comm. MACHINE FOR GLAZING TUBES, 8w.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 8, 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

1N VEN T OR. aco/99X Com aw I ATTORNEY.

n4: Noams wzrzas c0, PNOTO-LITHQV, WASHINGTON, D cv PATENTED MAY 5,190B. J. 00mm. MAGHIN'EIFOR GLAZING TUBES, 8w.

. APPLICATION FILED DEG, 8, 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

NO MODEL.

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ATTORNEY.

m: NOFIRlS PETERS co, PHQTO-UTHOH.WASNVNGTOI. n c.

PATENTED MAY 5, 1903 J. comm.

MACHINE FOR GLAZING TUBES, am

g APPLIOATION FILED no. a, 1902. ia snnnrrs-snnnr a.

vN0 MODEL.

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ATTORNEY.

Unrrn STATES (PAT-ENT- Patented May 5, 1903.

OFFICE.

THREE-FIFTHS TO CHARLES E. HALSALL AN DIIENRY SHALL, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA.

0. MAR:

MACHINE FOR GLAZING TUBES, aw.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 727,294, dated May 1903.Application filed December 8, 1902- Serial No. 134,448. (No model.) i

of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadel phia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Machine for GlazingTubes, Vials, and the Like, of which the following is a specification.

One object of the present invention is to provide a machine for glazingthe ends of glass tubes, vials, or the like or, in other words, formaking such ends smooth and suitable for commercial use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of the charactermentioned which shall be automatic in its action and simple, durable,and comparatively inexpensive in its construction.

Another object of the invention is to so glaze the ends of tubes, vials,and the like as that their production shall be rapid, their qualityuniform, and their cost trifling.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the followingdescription, as will also its nature, characteristic features, andscope,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof,and in which-- Figure 1 is a top or plan View of a machine Fig.

embodying features of the invention. 2 is a side view of the machine,partly in section, taken from the left-hand side in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3is asecti'onal View taken substantially centrally of the machine.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is a feed-apron provided, as it were, withnotches in which is imparted to this feed-apron an intermittent motionby means to be hereinafter described and for purposes to be nextdescribed. At the sides of the feed-apron and in line with each otherare arranged a pusher 5 and a mandrel or plug 6, which is locatedadjacent to a region of heat created, for example, by the burners 7 and8, whose heating-flames are directed toward the inne'r end of the plug.As

theblank is carried forward by the feed-apron.

the latter pauses when the blank is in'line with the pusher 5 and theplug 6, and one end of the blank is in range of theflflames from theburners'Zand 8, which impinge upon it. At this time the blankmay, asshown in the drawings, rest upon rollers a, carried by a frame a, andthe sets of rollers a are so spaced that a time allowance is afiordedfor the finishedend of the blank to cool before the otherend is operatedupon, as will be understoodfrom the following description. The machinemay be adjusted to different diameters of blanksfor example, rollers aof appropriate diameter may be substituted. Thereare presser-wheels 9,which are actuated in a manner to be presently described,an'd whichwhile the blank is in the position described contact with and rotate it,so that the blank is being rotated while one of its ends is beingheated, and in this way uniform heating is insured. Thisgenerally-stated result is accomplished by the pusher 5 moving inwardtoward the center of the 'machine and in that Way pushing the blankcrosswise of its carrying apron and bringing its end into the, heatingregion. When the end is thus heated, the mandrel or plug 6 advancesinward towardthe center of the machine and by contacting with and, ifdesirable, slightly entering the rotating heated end of the blankfinishes it. Mechanism for operating the pusher 5 and theplug 6 will bepresently described. Provision may be made for moderating the heatfromthe burners at appropriate times-for example, just before the end oftheblank is finishedand for increasing it as the next blank comes intorange of its influence, and such means will be described. Thepresser-wheels 9 are raised, by means to be presently described, topermit of the passage of one blank} from under them and of another blankunder them, with its end pushed into positionbythe pusher 5 for exposingit to the heat, whereupon they again descend, so as to rotate thelast-mentioned blank. Mechanism for accomplishing this will bedescribed.

The machine shown in the drawings-is intended to operate on both ends ofa blank, first on one end and then on the other, so that there are, inefiect, two sets of duplicate parts, and a description will be given ofonly one set, as from it the other set will be readily understood.

Intermittent motion may beimparted to the feed -apron 1 by a variety ofmechanism. IO However, a description will be given of the mechanismshown in the drawings for accom plishing that purpose.

Upon the shaft of the sprocket-wheel 4 there is a pinion 10, Fig. 2,adapted to mesh with a a mutilated pinion 1l,'of which the shaft isprovided with a. toothed wheel 12, which meshes with a toothed wheel 13,fast on the power-shaft 14. The pusher 5 is shown as held up totheworking face of a cam by means of aspring, and the plug 6 is similarlyheld up to the working face of a cam 16. The cams 15 and 16 are securedto counter-shafts 17 and 18. The shaft 18 is driven by thesprocket-gearing 19 from the power-shaft 14, and the shafts l7 and 18are geared together by the toothed wheels 20. The high parts of the-cams15,and 16 are so set in respect to each other that the pusher 5 is firstpushed in toward the center of the machine and af- 'terward the plug 6is pushed in toward the center of the machine, and they both recede fromthe center of the machine at practically the same time. Thepresser-wheels 9 are journaled at the ends of swinging arms 21, pivotedon shafts 22 and 23, which latter are carried by suitable supports. Thepresser-wheels are rotated by means of sprocket chains and gears fromthe shafts 22 and 23. The shaft 7 23 is driven from the shaft of thewheel 11, 0 Fig. 2, which shaft is itself driven in the mannerhereinbefore described. The shaft 22 is driven by'a sprocket chain andgear 24 from the power-shaft 14. The cams 25 collide with projections26, carried by pivotal arms 27, whichhave sliding engagement with yokes28, connected with the swinging frames 21, so that the high part of thecam 25 collides with the projection 26, turns the arm 27, and thus liftsthe swinging frame and brings the presser-wheels 9 out of range of theblanks.

29 represents back-stops for preventing the swinging frames from turningtoo far down- Ward or from causing the presser-wheels 9 to bear tooheavily on the blanks. The faces of these wheels are usually of rubberand operate to rotate the blanks.

The burners 7 and 8 consist of a gas-tube 30,,having a row of gas-escapeopenings along its top and an air-nozzle 31 arranged to play over thesegas-openings. The burners are each inclined, and this seems to beproductive of excellent results. Furthermore, the burners are mounted onposts which fit into sockets 32, having set-screws, whereby the burnersmay be elevated and lowered and also directed laterally. Gas enters at33, the

machine.

supply being regulated by a stop-cock, and passes to supply-pipes 34.From these valved connections 35 and 36 lead to the burners. Thus thesupply to each burner may be independently adjusted. Air enters underpressure by way of the pipe 37, Fig. 2, and this pipe is provided with aspring-controlled valve 38. It branches and extends to airpipes 39,located beneath the gas-pipes 34. From the pipes 39 extend valved branchpipes 40 and 41, which communicate with the burners. Thus the supply ofair may be properly adjusted for each burner. The pipes 35, 36, 40, and41 may be flexible, so as to permit of adjustments of the burners in themanner described. A projection 42, which revolves with the wheel 13,periodically collides with the valve-stem of the valve 38,.andthusserves .to temporarily reduce the supply of air at such times as it isnot desirable to have the flames play about the end of the plug 6, or,in other words, when there is no blank in position for being heated.While I have described an intermittent reduction in the supply of air,it is clear that the supply of gas or of gas and air may beintermittently reduced similarly.

The bearings which carry the pushers and plugs, as well as the platesorsupports which carry the burners, are adjustably connected, as bymeans of the set-screws and slots 43, so that they can be shifted towardor away from the center of the machine to accommodate blanks ofdifferent lengths. The guides 44 are also shown as provided withset-screw and slot adjustments, and While I have described mechanism forimparting the requisite movements in proper time relation to each otherof the. feed apron, pushers, plugs, presser-whecls, and heat-supply,still it is obvious that such mechanism in so far as its purpose is toaccomplish known mechanical movements can be modified without theexercise of invention.

The blanks may be fed to the feed-apron by means of a chute 45 anddelivered therefrom into a hopper 46. The feed-apron, or rather itsupper or working face, is shown as arranged well above the top 47 of thesupporting-table, so that if a blank should be broken there is a spaceinto which it can fall without interfering with the operation of the Theplugs or mandrels may be detachable and interchangeable, so that themachine can be adapted to a variety of work. For example, the contour ofthe plugs may .be curved for making the flaring mouth of test-tubes orstraight for tube-vials,or the plugs may be flat-ended to make the knobson medicine-droppers.

In use blanks which We will assume to be lengths cut from a glass tube,and therefore having rough ends, are placed in the chute 45 and aretaken from it one by one upon the feed-apron and carried toward the leftin Fig. 3. Considering one blank, it arrives beneath the right-handpresser-wheels 9 and in line with the right-hand pusher 5 and plug 6,whereupon the feed-apron pauses. At this time the burners are deliveringheatingflames and the pusher pushes one end of the blank into range ofthe flames. At this time the righthand presser-wheels descend and asthey rotate they turn the blank. This continues until the blank is wellheated, when the plug 6 touches its heated end, and thus glazes it. Thepusher and plug and presserwheels then release the blank and thefeedapron proceeds to move while the heat of the burner is modified. Byand by this tube which We are considering reaches the glazing apparatustoward the left in Fig. 3 and its opposite end is by that apparatusglazed in the manner described. It will be understood that two blanksare being operated upon at the same time, so that the production of themachine is comparatively large.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which my inventionappertains that modifications may be made in detail without departingfrom the spirit thereof. Hence Ido not limit myself to the preciseconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinabove set forth, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings; but,

Having thus described the nature and objects of my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,'is-

1. A machine of the class specified comprising a burner, a feed-apronhaving an intermittent motion and adapted to feed blanks in respect tothe burner, a reciprocating pusher for shifting a blank to bring one ofits ends into range of the heat of the burner, a presser-wheel forrotating the blank while it is exposed to the heat, a reciprocating plugor mandrel for working the heated end of the blank, and mechanismsubstantially as described for operating said parts in substantially themanner set forth.

2. A machine of the class specified comprising a feed-apron having anintermittent motion and arranged to permit of rotation of the blankswhich it carries, two sets of rollers upon which the blanks rotate, twosets of burners, two sets of presser-wheels arranged to rotate theblanks while the apron is at rest, two sets of complemental pushers andplugs motion, a swinging frame provided Witha rotating presser-wheel, aburner, a pusher for shifting the blank into range of heat of theburner, a plug or mandrel and means substantially as described foroperating said parts substantially as set forth.

4. A machine of the class specified comprising a rotating presser-wheel,a burner, a pusher for pushing a blank into range of the heat of theburner while it is being rotated by the presser-wheel, a mandrel or plugfor glazing the heated end of the rotating blank, means forintermittently feeding blanks into range of the pusher and presser-Wheeland plug or mandrel, and mechanism substantially as described foroperating said parts.

5. A machine of the class specified comprising means for rotating ablank and positioning it in respect to a burner and a mandrel and-apusher, a pusher for shifting the blank endwise to bring one end of itinto the heat of a burner, a burner, a plug or mandrel for glazing theblank, and means for operating said parts, substantially as described.

6. A machine of the class specified comprising burners, a plug ormandrel, and means for rotating a blank and moving it endwise to presentits end to the heat of the burners and to the plug or mandrel,substantially as signed my name.

JOSEPH CONDE.

In presence of W. J. JACKSON, K. M. GTLLIGAN.

